Tool for removing speednuts



Aug. 13, 1957 o. F. ADAMS 'ETAL 2,302,382

TOOL FOR REMOVING SPEEDNUTS Filed Feb. 19, 1es4.

INVENTORS 0471/5? E Kai/ 16, Off/7x? gay/vs,

ATTORNEY ited States nuts.

TOOL FOR REMOVING SPEEDNUTS Oliver F. Adams and Omar L. Adams, Alamosa, Colo.

Application February 19, 1954, SerialNo. 411,414

4 Claims. (Cl. 81--3) This invention-relates to a tool for removing speed- More particularly, the invention relates to a device for loosening the .barbs or prongs of installed speednuts to facilitate ready removal thereof.

In recent years there has been an ever increasing use of speednuts, such as exemplified by the familiar Tinnerrnan speednut. advantages over conventional nuts in that they are relatively light, cheap, easy to install, and do not require expensive machining. Accordingly they are especially desirable in production line assembly and are widely utilized by many industries, particularly the automotive industry.

One of the most desirable features of such nuts is that they lock in position easily and firmly and do not have the detrimental tendency to loosen or back off possessed by ordinary nuts, particularly where utilized upon the parts of an object subjected to considerable and directionally varying stresses and strains, such as an automobile.

While this feature is highly desirable from a manufacturing and durability standpoint, it has produced a widespread problem in the repair industry. It is frequently requisite that articles, such as automotive trim and accessories, be detached and to do so it is necessary to remove the speednuts. The tenacity of their junction together with the relatively small size of their prongs or barbs make their removal exceedingly difficult.

In many instances the pressure applied during removal results in breakage of the relatively thin and weak binding posts or bolts to which they are attached. Since it is customary industrially to form such posts or bolts integrally with the object or accessory to be attached, either by casting or welding, this breakage frequently results in discarding the complete object, the average repairman having no facilities for re-Welding such tiny posts to the object.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, inexpensive tool to facilitate removal of such speednuts.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a speednut removal tool which readily loosens the prongs or barbs of a speednut without imposing any strain on the post or bolt to which the nut is joined.

Still a further object is the provision of a tool which is easily inserted within the frequently encountered, relatively narrow, confined areas of locations of speednuts.

The invention also resides in certain structural characteristics of the tool which facilitate the carrying out of the foregoing objects. These and other objects will be readily apparent from the following written description in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a view in perspective of the speednut removal tool;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the speednut engaging end of the tool;

These speednuts possess numerous atepnt 2,802,382 Patented Aug. 13, 1957 t Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the tool on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

t Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the device applied to v a speednut.

t The tooLindicated generally at 10, is provided at the rearward end 11 of the shaft 12 thereof with a handle 13. In the preferred embodiment illustrated herein, handle 13 takes theform of a crossbar inserted in an aperture 14. extending radially through shaft 12. The crossbar may be friction fit or otherwise permanently joined to poster bolt 16 to which a speednut 17 is fastened. It will beunderstood that bore 15 is extended axially rearward a distance substantially. greater than the length of bolt ldwhijch protrudes beyond nut 17. In practice, this may be readily accomplished by extending the bore the entireslengthe of shaft 12.

Bore 15 is preferably formed with a diameter only slightly greater than that of bolt 16. In practice it is contemplated that a set of tools 10 having varying diameters of bore 15 will be supplied in like manner as the well known wrench sets now in common usage.

As indicated at 18, the exterior of the forward end 25 of shaft 12 is preferably considerably reduced in crosssection. This facilitates insertion of the tool into the narrow locations frequently occupied by speednuts and also enables the operator to obtain a better view of the forward or speednut engaging end of the tool.

At its extreme forward end the reduced portion of shaft 12 terminates in two helically tapering extensions 19, 19 producing between shaft 12 and extensions 19 two rearwardly helically narrowing slots 20, 20. The forward ends of extensions 19 each terminates in a pointed sharp barb or prong 21, and the taper of the outer edge 22 of extensions 19 is preferably such that the surface of the end of outer edge 22 lies in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of shaft 12. The inner edges 23 of extension 19 provide helical camming surfaces as explained hereafter.

In operation, as best illustrated in Figure 4, the bore 15 of the tool is positioned over the extending portion of post or bolt 16 and forward axial pressure is applied until the forward outer edges 22 of extensions 19 contact the two barbs 24 of speednut 17. Axial and clockwise rotary pressure is then applied to the tool. As the tool is rotated, the outer edges 22 of the extensions encounter the flat bridge portions of nut 17. Continued rotation of the tool causes prongs 21 to be inserted under barbs 24 and thereafter causes barbs 24 to ride upward and outward from bolt 16 on camming surfaces 23 due to the wedging effect produced by insertion of the tapering extensions between the barbs 24 and the main body of the speednut.

This upward and outward movement of the barbs 24 releases them from engagement with bolt 16, so that rearward axial movement of the tool will readily remove the speednut from the bolt. Additionally, this outward flexure of the barbs 24 will usually permanently separate the ends of the barbs so that they will no longer engage the bolt. It is pointed out, however, that this action will not impair the future usefulness of the speednut, since, after removal, the barbs thereof may easily be brought back into permanent bolt engaging positions by the simple application of pressure prior to reinsertion.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that no form of pressure is ever applied to bolt 16 during the operation of the tool so that breakage of the bolt is completely avoided.

' ile I have described andillustrated herein one preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that I aim to cover'all alternative constructions thereof as defined by the appended claims.

We claim: 7 1. A speednut removing tool, comprising, in combination: ashaft, two helically tapered extensions on one end of said shaft, a central bolt-receiving bore in said one end of said shaft extending to the end of said extensions, and a speednut-barb helical camming surface sions, said camming surface located on one side of a slot between'one of said extensions and said shaft. 3. A speednut removing tool, comprising, in combination: a shaft, two helically tapered extensions on one end of said shaft, a central bolt-receiving bore in said one end of said shaft extending to the end of said extensions, the outer surface at the end of each of said extensions lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of said shaft, and a speednut-barb helical camming surface formed on the inner edge of each of said extensions, which edge forms one side of a slot between the respective extension and said shaft.

4. A speednut removing tool, comprising in combination: a shaft, a handle formed on one end of said shaft, two helically tapered extensions on the other end of said shaft, said shaft having a reduced diameter at said other end thereof, a central bolt-receiving bore in said other end of said shaft extending to the end of said extensions,

each of said extensions having a sharp wedge-shaped point formed on the end thereof, the outer surface at the end of each of said extensions lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of said shaft, and a speednutbarb helical camming surface formed on the inner edge of each of said extensions which edge forms one side of a slot between the respective extension and said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 805,072 Jackson Nov. 21, 1905 1,195,220 Hend'ren Aug. 22, 1916 1,635,743 Davenport July 12, 1927 Tiff?" 

